Tubular B-Pillar to Stamped Rocker Joint and Method of Assembling The Same

ABSTRACT

A pillar to rocker joint assembly comprising a tubular pillar having a pinched flange near a lower end of the pillar is joined to a rocker assembly including a side sill and rocker reinforcement. A method of making a pillar to rocker joint assembly that comprises a vehicle structural support is formed by welding a structural support pillar to an outer body panel through an access opening in the pillar and welding a rocker reinforcement to a side sill. The rocker reinforcement is welded to the pillar through an access opening in the side sill, an access hole in the body outer panel, and an access opening in the pillar that is vertically spaced relative to the first access opening. A bottom flange of the B-pillar is welded to a lower edge flange of the rocker reinforcement and a lower edge flange of the side sill.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/539,766 filed Oct. 9, 2006, the disclosure of which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a B-pillar to a rocker panel joint for vehicles and a method of assembling a tubular B-pillar to a rocker panel assembly.

2. Background Art

Vehicle bodies generally include a B-pillar that is defined as the pillar located behind a front seat door that extends between a rocker panel of the vehicle and a roof. Conventional B-pillars are manufactured by assembling stamped panels that are welded together with spot welds formed by resistance welding equipment.

It has been proposed to form body framing components by hydro-forming tubular members to provide stronger and more durable body framing members. Hydro-formed components provide stronger structural support members that are lighter weight. However, joining a tubular B-pillar with a stamped body component presents challenges compared to joining sheet metal components together because the closed section of the tubular members makes it difficult to weld using resistance welding equipment.

The B-pillar must be joined to both the roof joint and the rocker joint. The B-pillar to rocker joint is critical for crash safety and noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) performance. If the B-pillar to rocker joint is not sufficiently robust, the load carrying capacity of the B-pillar for crash safety will not be fully utilized. Any weakness in the B-pillar to rocker joint may also downgrade the vehicle's torsion and bending stiffness.

Hydro-formed B-pillars having a tubular cross-section do not normally have flanges that may be spot welded to a stamped rocker panel assembly and the outer panel of the body. In addition, the contact area between a hydro-formed tubular member and a stamped rocker assembly is normally smaller because in the hydro-forming process a constant periphery of the tube must be maintained.

These and other challenges are addressed by Applicants' invention as summarized below:

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, a pillar to rocker joint assembly is provided for a vehicle. The assembly comprises a tubular pillar having a pinched flange proximate a lower end of the pillar. A first access opening is provided on an inner side of the pillar and a second access opening is provided on an outer side of the pillar. A rocker outer panel is attached to the pillar through one of the first and second access openings and a rocker reinforcement is assembled to the pillar through the other of the first and second access openings. The side sill and rocker reinforcement are attached to each other and are both connected to the pillar. An outer panel is secured to the pillar which are in turn attached to the assembled rocker reinforcement and side sill.

According to other aspects of the invention as they relate to the pillar to rocker joint assembly, the cross-section of the pillar is box-shaped in the middle portion of the pillar. The cross-section of the pillar is an elongated rectangular cross-section at a lower portion of the pillar that fits between the rocker reinforcement and outer panel. The pillar is welded to itself at the pinched flange. The outer surface of the pillar is attached to the outer panel. An inner surface of the pillar is attached to the rocker reinforcement through an access hole in the side sill, an access hole in the outer surface of the pillar and an access opening in the outer panel. A bottom flange is formed by the outer panel, rocker reinforcement and side sill. Welds in portions of the bottom flange may be formed through one thickness of metal of the pillar, one thickness of metal of the rocker reinforcement and one thickness of metal of the side sill.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of making a pillar to rocker joint assembly is provided. The rocker joint assembly has a pillar, a rocker reinforcement, a side sill, and an outer body panel. The method comprises welding the pillar to the outer body panel through a first access opening in the inner wall of the pillar. The rocker reinforcement is welded to the side sill. The rocker reinforcement is welded to the pillar through an access opening in the side sill, a second access opening in the pillar that is vertically spaced from the first access opening in the pillar and an access area in the body outer panel. A bottom flange of the pillar, a bottom flange of the rocker reinforcement, and a bottom flange of the side sill are welded together.

According to other aspects of the method of making a pillar to rocker joint assembly, the bottom flange of the pillar is a pinched double flange that is provided adjacent the lower end of the pillar and the method further comprises welding the pinched double flange together prior to welding the pillar to the body outer panel. A single wall thickness may be removed from the pinched double flange to provide a single wall thickness of the pillar that is welded to the bottom side sill flange and the bottom rocker reinforcement flange. The weld of the pinched double flange, the bottom side sill flange and the bottom rocker reinforcement flange is formed below the location where the pinched double flange is welded together. The step of welding the rocker reinforcement to the side sill results in the formation of a tubular assembly. The pillar may be welded to an outer side of the rocker reinforcement. The side sill is welded to an inner side of the rocker reinforcement, thereby forming a joint in which the rocker reinforcement is sandwiched between the pillar and the side sill. The welding steps may be performed by a resistance welding operation. The pillar may have an elongated box cross-section in the longitudinal vehicle direction that is provided above a pinched double flange formed adjacent a lower end of the pillar. The pillar may have a substantially equilateral cross-section above the elongated box-shaped cross-section.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of making a vehicle structural support is provided. The method comprises hydro-forming a pillar having a box-shaped cross-section that is located above an elongated box section, and a pinched double flange adjacent a lower end of the pillar. A body panel is stamped and welded to the pillar. A rocker reinforcement and side sill are stamped and then welded together with the side sill being welded to an inner side of the rocker reinforcement. The pillar is welded to an outer side of the rocker reinforcement.

According to other aspects of the method of making a vehicle structural support, a single wall thickness may be removed from the area of the pinched double flange to provide a single wall thickness of the pillar that is welded to a side sill flange and a rocker reinforcement flange. The pillar may be welded to an outer side of the rocker reinforcement within the side sill being welded to an inner side of the rocker reinforcement thereby forming a joint in which the rocker reinforcement is sandwiched between the pillar and the side sill. The method may also further comprise removing a single wall thickness of the pillar in multiple vertically spaced locations to form an upper access hole and a lower access hole in the pillar. An inner surface of the pillar is welded to the rocker reinforcement through the upper access hole and a side sill access hole in the side sill and an access hole in the body outer panel. An outer surface of the pillar is welded to the body outer panel through the lower access hole in the inner surface of the pillar before the rocker reinforcement and side sill are assembled to the pillar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevation view of a hydro-formed tubular B-pillar to a stamped rocker joint made according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the hydro-formed B-pillar;

FIG. 3 is an inside elevation view of the hydro-formed B-pillar;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 4-4 in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 5-5 in FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary side elevation view of a side sill portion of the rocker assembly;

FIG. 7 is a side elevation view of a rocker reinforcement portion of the rocker assembly; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary transverse cross-sectional view of the B-pillar to the stamped rocker joint made according to one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, a tubular B-pillar to stamped rocker joint assembly 10 is shown. The joint assembly 10 is used to join the B-pillar 12 to a side sill 16 and a rocker reinforcement 18. The B-pillar 12 is welded to an outer body panel 20. While the invention is described with reference to a B-pillar 12, the invention is not limited to a B-pillar and it should be understood that the same general joint assembly and method of making a joint assembly for the present invention could also be applied to other structural pillars of the vehicle.

An upper access hole 22 is also shown in FIG. 1 that is formed in an outer wall 24 of the B-pillar 12. The upper access hole 22 is provided to permit welding the B-pillar 12 to the rocker reinforcement 18 as will be more fully described with reference to FIG. 8 below.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, two views of a B-pillar 12 are shown. The B-pillar extends between the roof (not shown) of a vehicle and a rocker panel assembly that is partially shown in FIG. 1 above. The B-pillar 12 has a pinched double flange 28 on its lower end that may also be referred to as the bottom flange of the pillar. Referring specifically to FIG. 3, a single wall area 30 is provided on the pinched double flange 28. The single wall area 30 of the B-pillar 12 is provided to facilitate welding the pinched double flange 28 to the side sill 16 and rocker reinforcement 18.

Referring to FIGS. 2-4, a lower portion 32 of the B-pillar 12 is shown to be formed as an elongated box cross-section in the longitudinal vehicle direction. The lower portion 32 is provided above the pinched double flange that is located at the lower end of the B-pillar. The lower portion 32 of the B-pillar 12 has an outer wall 24 and an inner wall 38 that are joined by a front wall 42 and a back wall 44.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 3 and 5, a middle portion 36 of the B-pillar 12 is shown to have a substantially equilateral cross-section that is provided above the lower portion 32. As used herein the term “substantially equilateral cross-section” should be construed to mean a generally boxed shaped cross-section having nearly equal sides that are disposed at nearly right angles to each other. The corners of the elongated box cross-section are rounded and the walls may have non-linear areas depending upon the requirements of the vehicle design.

Referring to FIG. 6, the side sill 16 is shown secured to the B-pillar 12. The side sill 16 includes an access hole 48 that provides access to allow welding the rocker reinforcement 18 to the B-pillar 12.

Referring to FIG. 7, a rocker reinforcement 18 is shown. The rocker reinforcement 18 is joined to the side sill 16 and B-pillar 12 as will be more specifically described with reference to FIG. 8 below.

Referring to FIG. 8, the joint assembly 10 is illustrated in cross-section to show how the B-pillar 12 and body outer panel are joined as a first subassembly. The side sill 16 and rocker reinforcement 18 are also joined together as a second subassembly. The two subassemblies are joined by welding the rocker reinforcement 18 to the inner wall 38 of the B-pillar 12. A weld is formed that is accessible through an upper access hole 22 in the outer wall 24 of the B-pillar 12, an access hole 48 formed in the side sill 16, and an access hole 52 formed in the outer panel 20. The outer wall 24 of the B-pillar 12 includes a single wall area 30 at the lower end of the B-pillar where it is joined to a bottom flange 58 of the side sill 16 and a bottom flange 60 of the rocker reinforcement 18.

A lower access hole 50 is provided in the inner wall 38 of the B-pillar 12 to permit welding the outer wall 24 to the body outer panel 20 to form the subassembly of the B-pillar 12 and the outer body panel 20 before the B-pillar 12 is joined to the rocker reinforcement 18 as described above.

The side sill 16 and rocker reinforcement 18 are joined at their upper edges by welding an upper edge flange 54 of the side sill 16 to an upper edge flange 56 of the rocker reinforcement 18. Similarly, a lower edge flange 58 of the side sill 16 is welded to a lower edge flange 60 of the rocker reinforcement 18. The single wall area 30 of the B-pillar 12 is also welded to the bottom or lower edge flanges 58 and 60 when the subassemblies are joined together.

While the best mode for carrying out the invention has been described in detail, those familiar with the art to which this invention relates will recognize various alternative designs and embodiments for practicing the invention as defined by the following claims. 

1. A method of making a pillar to rocker joint assembly, the rocker joint assembly having a rocker reinforcement, a side sill, and an outer body panel, the method comprising: forming a tubular pillar having a pinched flange proximate a lower end, a first access opening along an inner wall of the pillar and an second access opening vertically spaced relative to the first access opening along an outer wall of the pillar; welding the pillar to the outer body panel through a first access opening; welding the rocker reinforcement to the side sill; welding the rocker reinforcement to the pillar through the second access opening in the pillar; and welding the pinched flange of the pillar to a bottom flange of the rocker reinforcement and a bottom flange of the side sill.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising welding the pinched flange together prior to welding the pillar to the body outer panel.
 3. The method of claim 2 further comprising removing a single wall thickness along the pinched flange to provide a single wall thickness of the pillar that is welded to a bottom side sill flange and a bottom rocker reinforcement flange.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the weld of the pinched flange, the bottom side sill flange, and the bottom rocker reinforcement flange is formed below the location where the pinched flange is welded together.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of welding the rocker reinforcement to the side sill forms a tubular reinforcement assembly.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the pillar is welded to an outer side of the rocker reinforcement, wherein the side sill is welded to an inner side of the rocker reinforcement thereby forming a joint in which the rocker reinforcement is sandwiched between the pillar and the side sill.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the welding steps are performed in a resistance welding operation.
 8. The method of claim 1 wherein the pillar has a box-shaped cross-section above the pinched flange.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the rocker reinforcement is welded to the pillar through an access area in the body outer panel and an access opening in the side sill.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the tubular pillar is hydro-formed.
 11. A method of making a vehicle structural support comprising: hydro-forming a pillar having a box shaped cross-section and a pinched double flange adjacent a lower end of the pillar; stamping a body outer panel; welding the pillar to the body outer panel; stamping a rocker reinforcement; stamping an side sill; welding the side sill to an inner side of the rocker reinforcement; and welding the pillar to an outer side of the rocker reinforcement.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising removing a single wall thickness in the along the pinched double flange to provide a single wall thickness of the pillar that is welded to a side sill flange and a rocker reinforcement flange.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the pillar is welded to an outer side of the rocker reinforcement, wherein the side sill is welded to an inner side of the rocker reinforcement thereby forming a joint in which the rocker reinforcement is sandwiched between the pillar and the side sill.
 14. The method of claim 11 further comprising removing a single wall thickness of the pillar in multiple vertically spaced locations to form an upper access hole and a lower access hole, wherein an inner surface of the pillar is welded to the rocker reinforcement through the upper access hole and a side sill access hole in the side sill and an access hole in the body outer panel, and wherein an outer surface of the pillar is welded to the body outer panel through the lower access hole in the inner surface of the pillar before the rocker reinforcement and side sill are assembled to the pillar.
 15. The method of claim 11 wherein hydro-formed pillar has a first box-shaped cross-section located above a second elongated cross-section.
 16. A method of making a structural support for a vehicle, comprising: forming a first subassembly by welding an outer panel to an outer wall of a pillar; forming a reinforcement assembly by welding a side sill to a rocker reinforcement; and welding the reinforcement assembly to the first subassembly, such that the first subassembly is disposed outboard of the reinforcement assembly.
 17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of: hydro-forming the pillar as a tubular pillar.
 18. The method of claim 16 further comprising the steps of: forming a first access opening on an inner wall of the pillar and a second access opening defined on the outer wall of the pillar; forming a third access opening; welding the outer panel to the pillar through the first access opening; and welding the reinforcement assembly to the pillar along the inner wall of the pillar through the second opening and the third opening.
 19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of: forming an fourth access opening along a pinched flange located adjacent a lower end of the pillar; and welding the first subassembly to the reinforcement assembly through the fourth access opening.
 20. The method of claim 16 wherein the reinforcement assembly is a tubular assembly extending in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle. 